NJ Creates Council for Young Children

On January 6, 2010, former Governor Jon Corzine signed an executive order that established the New Jersey Council for Young Children. This occurred in order to comply with the federal Head Start statute and as a condition for New Jersey’s application for a pending federal funding opportunity under the Early Learning Challenge Fund.  The goal is to ensure collaboration among early childhood programs in the State and more comprehensive implementation of early childhood programs.  This Advisory Council from the Department of Education has key responsibilities to:

1. Conduct periodic Statewide needs assessment about the quality and availability of early childhood programs and services from birth to school entry.
2. Identify opportunities for and barriers to collaboration and coordination among federally-funded and State-funded child development, child care, and early childhood education programs and services.
3. Develop recommendations for increasing overall participation of children in existing federal, state, and local child care, as well as early childhood programs, including outreach to underrepresented and special populations.
4. Assess the capacity and effectiveness of two and four year colleges in the State to support the development of early childhood educators.
5. Recommend improvements in State early learning standards and begin efforts to develop high-quality comprehensive early learning standards. (http://www.njpsa.org).

The 25 member Advisory Council is chaired by Ellen Wolock, Director of New Jersey’s Office of Preschool Education. It held a public hearing on May 21, 2010 in Trenton to invite public awareness and to comment on the Council’s draft of its first strategic plan, forming the basis for its federal application for $1.6 million. On June 15, 2010 the revised plan, to include revisions based upon the public hearing input, was submitted to Governor Christie for review and approval.  The deadline for submission to the Administration for Children and Families is August 1, 2010. This link connects to the testimony and written input about the current status of New Jersey’s young children.

MAC Response to NJ Council for Young Children